Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash review (PC)

Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash has been released on Steam, after an initial console release that came out last year. We went to see how the conversion was handled this time.

Late last summer, we reviewed the PS4 version of Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash – perfect timing for those still clinging to the hot summer weather and thoughts of women engaging in super-soaker fueled wet t-shirt battles. Then again, at least part of the Senran Kagura crowd is probably up for that every day of the week, so why not release a PC version of the game in the winter?

Having seen the PS4 version in action as well, I can safely say that this PC conversion is pretty much identical to its console cousin. That didn’t come as a surprise though, since Peach Beach Splash isn’t a game that pushes the hardware to its limits by any means. I believe the engine that’s in use is most likely based on some of the previous Senran Kagura titles – and those also came out on the Vita.

Textures and other assets haven’t been upgraded to make use of the extra engine power that a PC can provide, but the entire game runs smoothly and has very modest system requirements with a GTS 450 listed as the minimum requirement. But while that means you probably won’t have to upgrade your graphics card, that money could instead be spent on extra characters, items and outfits for Peach Beach Splash. Think I’m exaggerating? There’s currently about $300/€300 worth of DLC content available for the game on Steam – yikes.

I did run into a few technical issues while playing though, which included a stretched image on my ultrawide monitor. I temporarily fixed this by disabling the borderless option, but have since also learned that the developers are already working on a more permanent fix that should rectify the problem in borderless (as well as other issues with the mode). While researching that problem, I also noticed that the developers will be adding custom button prompts for Playstation gamepad users and keyboard/mouse users soon – I was playing with my Xbox controller myself, for which support is included out of the box.

A slightly more serious issue is that people are running into problems with the game crashing during online multiplayer. I didn’t come across this personally, but for a game that’s best enjoyed as a multiplayer (arena shooter-like) affair – that’s a pretty serious issue. Luckily, the developers seem aware and are working on a solution for this.

Our advice: keep an eye on the Steam page to keep informed about the multiplayer issues. When they’re fixed, read our Playstation 4 review to see if this is a game for you. Once the multiplayer mode gets fixed, the 7.0 score for that review holds up for the PC conversion as well.